Ganesh Worship (French Site)

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Ganesh worship

Exoteric worship

Ganesh is always present in the cult to the five main hindu deities

(Pañchâyatanapûja) : Ganesh, Sûrya , Durgâ , Vishnu , Shiva , but the Ganesh

worshippers are mainly devoted to their favorite god. Vishnu is the Master of

Akasha, the ether Sûrya, the Sun, is the Master of Vayu, the air Shakti

(Durgâ), the Goddess commands the energy of fire (Agni) Ganesh represents

water (Apas), the energy of fulfilment; he is the Master of Varuna, god of

waters. This is why, when the Ganesha Chathurti festival ends, clay statues of

god Ganesh must be brought to the sea and immersed to be dissolved. and Shiva

is the Master of the Earth; he is represented by the stone-made Shiva Lingam.

Ganesh is worshipped every day. The five ritual offers are : the red santal

paste flowers encense the light of burning campher food. These offers

represent the Five Elements ether, air, fire, water and earth.

Rituals may vary from one region to another in India; their exact codification

seems to be somewhat complex. The Ganesha Pûjâ, as recommanded by ancient

texts, is described Martin-Dubost (1997). A more detailed description,

including the mantra used during the different phases of the ritual, is given

in Sadguru Sant Keshavadas (1988). Esoteric cults

In the beginning (9th century) , Shankarâchârya stated precisely about the

Hindu main six branches (Shanmata). The branch of the Ganesh worshippers, who

consider this deity as the Supreme One, is known as the Gânapatya branch. Of

course, all of these different branches were considered as orthodox, that is to

say in accordance with the Veda teachings. . The Gânapatya included other gods

in their rituals, but they considered these other gods as part of Ganesh. For

instance, they thought that the Ganesh holly body is made of is navel (Brahmâ),

of his face (Vishnu), of his eyes (Rudra ); his body right side is Sûrya, his

body left side is Shakti . He is the OM sound, he is the Lord of the Five

Elements. The Gânapatya divided themselves, in course of time, in six

sub-branches, characterized by specific rituals adressed to different Ganesh

forms. The fist three sub-branches strictly follow the Vedic prescriptions :

these are the Navanîtaganâpatya, the Suvarnaganâpatya, the Santânaganâpatya.

The three other sub-branches are esoteric ones and worship the following Ganesh

forms : Mahâ Ganapati , the Great Ganapati; his color is red, he owns ten arms

and wears the Goddess seated on his left lap. Mahâ Ganapati is the Ganesh

esoteric form which seems to be most often represented Haridrâ Ganapati with

four arms and three eyes; his color is the curcuma yellow Ucchista Ganapati,

red, seated in the lotus position (padmasana); he embraces the naked Nîlâ

Sarasvatî, Goddess, of a nice blue color. The Ucchista Ganapati worshippers

follow esoteric practices ("the left hand path") very particular, prohibited by

other branches. Those sects (cultual branches) are sayed to be esoteric, since

their devotees are adepts of tantric practices. Some attempts will be given

below to briefly clarify what is tantrism. Some basis about tantrism

Tantra is (it would be more precise to tell "are"), form a set of texts which

have been elaborated during past centuries; important ones are nearly one

thousand years old. The word Tantra comes from the sanskrit root "trayati"

which means to release, to disengage. Accordingly, the Tantra ultimate target

is to free human beings from their limitations. Tantrisme includes a set of

methods, even we can say accurate methods, which aim at getting a transmutation

of the energies at work in the human being. Let us explain. The Yogi experiment

(this exactly means that we don't speak about any belief, therefore it is not a

religious postulate) that the human being is composed of several "levels", from

the coarsest (the physical body) to the most subtle. These levels, or layers,

are named kosha in sanskrit. We don't intend to discuss here about the

intrinsic existence or non-existence of the soul. At the very least, this

concept leads to some confusion when it is compared with the super-conscious

states experienced by the great Yogis (we don't speak about the students of a

Yoga course - even a high level one...). "Ordinary" man is conducted by his

passions : he does not have any control on his body, on his breathing, on his

reactions, on his mental activity, etc. He is only conscious of his body and,

in the best cases, of the crude aspects of his breathing. He even does not know

anything about the prana - the energy of life - which underlays the breathing.

And he is the toy of his "mental - psychic - body"... Let us try to understand

why. The traditional Yoga teaches that the whole Universe is energy. This root

power is guided by the three Guna . The word Guna can be translated, for want

of something better, by "mode of existence", "position characterizing

everything". For a human being, excessive tamas leads to breakdown, melancoly,

excessive râjas brings restlessness, anger, greediness, etc. Tamasic and

rajasic energies circulate in the body and grant to him the present turn of

mind. The subtle channels which carry those energies are called nadi . Those

short explanations being understood (assuming that the glossary has been

consulted for the Sanskrit words -if necessary), one may understand that the

Yogi purpose and practice aims to balance the Tamas and Râjas energies, and to

develop and improve the Sattwa energy. To achieve this objective, there is a

lot of techniques. The Yoga (codified by Patañjali) consists of eight stages,

which are not necessarily in succession, but it is merely unwise to overpass

the preliminary stages : Yama, or social behaviour : ahimsa (non-violence),

satya (truth), asteya (honesty), brahmacharya (sexual control) , aparigraha

(absence of possessivity) Niyama, or moral rules in the personal life :

shaucha (cleanliness), santosha (contentment), tapas (austerity) , svâdhyâya

(self-observance), îshvarapranidhâna (surrender to God) Asana, postures

Prânâyâma , breath control, Prana and other energies named above mastering

(the Prana is the life energy, conveyed by the breath) Pratyâhâra : senses

withdrawal Dhâranâ, concentration on a visible or mental meditation support

Dhyâna : the deep meditation state Samâdhi : the immersion in the

Super-Consciousness. More or less, the Yoga path follows this way. However,

everybody has to find (with the help of a capable teacher), the framework of

the techniques which fits to him best : Hatha Yoga, obviously, and also Râja

Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Kriya Yoga, Antar Mauna, Mantra Yoga, Jñana Yoga, etc...

Every teaching underlines such-and-such aspect, but, in any case, it has to

satisfy the compulsory and preliminary purification of the disciple energies,

before they can be adequately transmuted. On his side, tantrism offers a more

direct track, expected to bring quicker results (only a few decades span of

painstaking and regular work). To be simple, one may say that the goal is to

awaken the Sattvic energy of the Kundalini, asleep in the Mûladhâra chakra and

to conduct this energy, via the sushumna nadi, crossing every chakra, up to the

Sahasrara chakra. We don't intend here to explain more about the chakra

symbolism; in fact, it looks to be a very complex matter. Furthermore, it is

linked to practices which are irrelevant in this Web site. We will only keep in

mind that tantric practices emphasize the importance of the Shakti . Hatha Yoga

is fundamentaly a tantric way; consequently, it may be practiced in this full

the prospect. However, when Hatha Yoga migrated from India to Western

countries, it grew weaker. Anyway, remember that this word Hatha means effort,

strengh, and yhat there is a trap in the meaning of that word effort : all the

Yoga teachers tell their student not to force themselves... The Hatha Yoga

popularization led most people to know only the physical branch, the asana

(postures). From there, appeared anti-stress yoga for overworked yuppies,

exhausted housewifes, depressed unmarried men and women. It's not so bad, it's

even really nice, but it's the very basic Yoga. On the other side, tantrism

practice may lead, in Western countries, to unfortunate delusions. Invoking and

awakening the Shakti Power requires a very strict life training, assiduous

practice of advanced forms of Yoga (asana, prânâyâma), and meditation sessions

coupled with continuous specific mantra repetition (japa). All this context

must be under the control of a competent Yoga teacher (guru) and reserved only

to adequately trained Yoga students. In addition, a "sexual" positioning of the

tantric Yoga has been developed in Western countries. One may suppose that this

tendency is due to a particular demand It is true, since many centuries, that

specific forms of tantrism focused on sexuality, more precisely on the

mastering of this very powerful force. However, tantrism adapted to European

people has sometimes distorted the fundations of this very complex and secret

science. We may say secret, since this science requires from the practiser a

high level of qualification, because of real dangers, psychological as well as

physical. Indeed, sexual intercourse, as practised in tantrism, is the acme of

a long partners training. Furthermore, this act is not permitted to culminate

in the ejaculation. The orgasm energy must be voluntarily directed, through the

sushumna, from the lowest chakra (Mûladhara) to the Sahasrara chakra... Adding

the fact that the shakti (here, that word points out the sexual partner) orgasm

is not expected, most amateurs should be discouraged... Unfortunately, in our

countries, the "sexual" tantrism aspects are too often discussed, or even

teached with a dubious complacency by pseudo guru to yoga students greedy to

get "powers" and sensations. When they don't validate a form of sex exchange,

these questionable practices generally end up at disillusions. At best, the

"tantric "students have to content themselves with unusual energy signs

(colors, visions, heat, trembling, etc.). These experiences may reinforce their

ego (self-satisfaction), leading them to a way opposite to the Yoga way... In

any event, we may underline that sexual aspects in tantrism must only be

eventually tackled in the long run, after full achievement of a deep work on

energies, opening out onto the control on purified chakra working. A few good

books : Arthur Avalon. La Puissance du Serpent. Mystiques et Religions.

Dervy-Livres, Paris, 1981 Julius Evola. Le Yoga tantrique; sa métaphysique,

ses pratiques. Arthème Fayard, Paris; collection documents spirituels, 1971

Tara Michaël. Introduction aux voies du Yoga. Editions du Rocher, Monaco; 1980

Tara Michaël. Hatha Yoga Pradîpikâ. Fayard, Paris, 1974 Tara Michaël. Corps

subtil et corps causal. Les six cakra et le kundalini Yoga. Le Courrier du

Livre, Paris; 1979 Sri Swami Sivananda. Yoga de la Kundalini. Préface d'André

Van Lysebeth. EPI Editeurs, Rue des Saints Pères, Paris; 1973

http://perso.club-internet.fr/ganapati/anglais/adetcult.html#cultesDo You ?

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